Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED), one of America's leading home health and
hospice care companies, today announced that William (Bill) F. Borne,
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, has stepped down as
CEO, Chairman and Director. In recognition of his 33 years of service
since founding the Company in 1982, the Board of Directors has named Mr.
Borne Chairman Emeritus.
The Board of Directors has named President and Chief Financial Officer
Ronald (Ronnie) A. LaBorde Interim CEO while a national search for a
permanent CEO is being conducted. Mr. LaBorde has served Amedisys for
two years in the role of President and CFO. He has been a member of the
Company’s Board of Directors for 17 years, serving as Lead Director for
nine of those years before accepting his management position within the
Company.
The Amedisys Board of Directors also announced that Donald A. Washburn,
Lead Director, and David R. Pitts, Director, are now non-executive Board
Co-Chairmen and will share duties given their extensive experience in
corporate governance, analyst and investor relations, and health care
management and consulting. The Board will meet monthly as Washburn and
Pitts take a greater oversight role, helping to position Amedisys for
strong future performance.
“It’s never easy to see a founder leave, yet it’s not uncommon,” said
David Pitts. “Bill had the vision, drive and compassion to build an
incredible company that at its core is focused on helping chronically
ill patients and their families during their greatest times of need. We
thank Bill for his leadership and wish him the best.”
“We’ve asked Ronnie, and he’s agreed, to serve as our Interim CEO as
Amedisys addresses head-on its current challenges and drives to achieve
its opportunities,” said Don Washburn. “We have great confidence in
Ronnie’s leadership and experience to address the changes and evolution
of today’s health care landscape. During the past 17 years, we have
worked with and supported him in his tenure as a fellow Director and
executive, and will continue working closely with him.”
“I look forward to leading the Company during this period of change,”
said Ronnie LaBorde. “We have some challenges ahead of us, but given the
passion and skill of our team I am confident in our ability to succeed.
Quality patient care has been and always will be the cornerstone of our
business. We will continue our relentless focus on delivering the
highest quality, patient-centered services to the patients who entrust
us with their care.”
Amedisys’ Board has retained and engaged The Boston Consulting Group for
business and industry analysis and advisement; Korn Ferry to conduct a
national CEO search; and ReviveHealth for strategic communications,
corporate marketing and health care industry consulting.
About Amedisys:
Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) is a leading health care at home company
delivering personalized home health and hospice care to more than
360,000 patients each year. More than 2,200 hospitals and 61,900
physicians nationwide have chosen Amedisys as a partner in post-acute
care. Amedisys is focused on delivering the care that is best for our
patients, whether that is home-based recovery and rehabilitation after
an operation or injury, care focused on empowering them to manage a
chronic disease, palliative care for those with a terminal illness, or
hospice care at the end of life. Amedisys also has the industry's
first-ever nationwide Care Transitions program, designed to reduce
unnecessary hospital readmissions through patient and caregiver health
coaching and care coordination, which starts in the hospital and
continues throughout completion of the patient's home health plan of
care. For more information about the Company, please visit: http://www.amedisys.com.
Our company website address is http://www.amedisys.com.
We use our website as a channel of distribution for important company
information. Important information, including press releases, analyst
presentations and financial information regarding the Company is
routinely posted on and accessible on the "Investor Relations" subpage
of our website, which is accessible by clicking on the tab labeled
"Investors" on our website home page. We will also use our website to
expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the
Company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") disclosing
the same information. In addition, we make available on the Investor
Relations subpage of our website (under the link "SEC filings") free of
charge our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q,
current reports on Form 8-K, ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5 and
any amendments to those reports as soon as practicable after we
electronically file such reports with the SEC. Further, copies of our
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, our Code of Ethical Business
Conduct and the charters for the Audit, Compensation and Nominating and
Governance Committees of our Board are also available on the Investor
Relations subpage of our website (under the link "Corporate Governance").
Bios Attached
Ronald A. LaBorde
President and Interim Chief Executive Officer
Ronald A. LaBorde is the president and interim CEO for Amedisys, having
previously served as president and Chief Financial Officer for the
company. Most recently he served as president of HR Solutions, LLC, a
private company that provides outsourced administration associated with
human resources. Prior to that, he managed personal investments, which
included non-public operating companies, and provided management
consulting services to various privately-held companies, including HR
Solutions, LLC. His experience includes eight years as president and
chief executive officer of Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc., a publicly
traded retail restaurant business. Mr. LaBorde has served on Amedisys’
Board of Directors for 17 years and as Lead Director since 2003.
David R. Pitts
Board Co-Chairman and Director
Mr. Pitts, since 1981, has been Chairman and CEO of Pitts Management
Associates, Inc., (PMA), a national hospital and healthcare strategic
consulting and restructuring firm. He has more than 45 years experience
in health care operations and planning, and has served in senior
executive capacities in a number of hospitals, multi-hospital systems,
and medical schools. He has served on over 60 governing bodies in
publicly-traded, privately-held, and non-profit organizations; most
recently as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the General Health
Corporation, Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of Business
First Bank, and Chair of the Church Pension Group. Currently he is
Chairman of the Church Investment Group in New York. He is President of
the national health care "think tank" Health Insights Foundation, and is
a Fellow in several professional organizations. For Amedisys, Mr. Pitts
is Co-Chairman, a Director, and Chairman of the Board's Compensation
Committee.
Donald A. Washburn
Board Co-Chairman and Director
Mr. Washburn, a private investor, currently serves as a Director on the
Boards of the following publicly-traded companies: (i) LaSalle Hotel
Properties, a real estate investment trust; (ii) The Greenbrier
Companies, Inc., a manufacturer and lessor of rail cars and barges; and
(iii) Key Technology, Inc., which designs and manufactures process
automation systems for the food processing and industrial markets. He is
also a retired Executive Vice President of Northwest Airlines, Inc. and
was the Chairman and President of Northwest Cargo, Inc. Prior to joining
Northwest Airlines, Inc., Mr. Washburn was a corporate Senior Vice
President of Marriott Corporation, most recently Executive Vice
President and general manager of its Courtyard Hotel division. For
Amedisys, Mr. Washburn is Co-Chairman and Chairman of the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee.
Copyright Business Wire 2014